Systems tracts, delta and vegetation shifts appraisal

This paper examines the interdependence among different forcing controls on the evolution of the passive margin of the Niger Delta. The investigations of these controls were based on array of different multiple proxy analysed from three Gravity Cores obtained from the sea bed at 40 m water depth. The extraneous controls on the environment outlined in this context confirm a direct link between the vegetation dynamics (pollen data), biosequence stratigraphy and sediment supply between 20-6.5 ka. Notwithstanding the "privacy or close door policy" to research in the Niger Delta, this study represents one of the recent attempts to study the inferred systems tracts, environmental change (sea level / climate change) and deltaic landscape during the Late Quaternary. Sea-level change is the major control of the Niger Delta coastal evolution during the last 20 ka due to evidence of mangrove vegetation (Rhizophora pollen) and planktonic expansion. On the long run, this study serves as a practical tool for the geologists, stratigraphers, environmentalists, sedimentologists, intergovernmental and local planning agencies concerned with the coastal exploration.